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''Titanic'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical. ''Titanic'' is set on the ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' which sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. ==Background== The discovery of the wreck of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1985 attracted Yeston's interest in writing a musical about the famous disaster. "What drew me to the project was the positive aspects of what the ship represented – 1) humankind's striving after great artistic works and similar technological feats, despite the possibility of tragic failure, and 2) the dreams of the passengers on board: 3rd Class, to immigrate to America for a better life; 2nd Class, to live a leisured lifestyle in imitation of the upper classes; 1st Class, to maintain their privileged positions forever. The collision with the iceberg dashed all of these dreams simultaneously, and the subsequent transformation of character of the passengers and crew had, it seemed to me, the potential for great emotional and musical expression onstage."〔(Kalfatovic, Mary. "Maury Yeston", ''Contemporary Musicians'' (ed. Luann Brennan). Vol. 22, Gale Group, Inc., 1998 )〕 Stone and Yeston knew that the idea was an unusual subject for a musical. "I think if you don't have that kind of daring damn-the-torpedos, you shouldn't be in this business. It's the safe sounding shows that often don't do well. You have to dare greatly, and I really want to stretch the bounds of the kind of expression in musical theater," Yeston explained.〔''BMI Music World'', Fall 1997, pp. 24-29〕 Yeston saw the story as unique to turn-of-the-century British culture, with its rigid social class system and its romanticization of progress through technology. "In order to depict that on the stage, because this is really a very English show, I knew I would have to have a color similar to the one found in the music of the great composers at that time, like Elgar or Vaughan Williams; this was for me an opportunity to bring in the musical theater an element of the symphonic tradition that I think we really haven't had before. That was very exciting."〔 The high cost of ''Titanic's'' set made it impossible for the show to have traditional out of town tryouts. ''Titanic's'' previews began at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1997 with major technical troubles: ironically, during previews the model ship onstage would ''not'' sink. These difficulties were mostly resolved by opening night, but the show received mostly negative reviews. ''The New Yorker's'' was a rare positive assessment from the New York press: "It seemed a foregone conclusion that the show would be a failure; a musical about history's most tragic maiden voyage, in which fifteen hundred people lost their lives, was obviously preposterous.... Astonishingly, ''Titanic'' manages to be grave and entertaining, somber and joyful; little by little you realize that you are in the presence of a genuine addition to American musical theatre."〔Franklin, Nancy. ''New Yorker'', May 12, 1997, pp. 102-03〕 During the previews, the cast had feared the show would close. Michael David, a producer, saw the previews, and Yeston recalls that "We assembled the cast and company in the Lunt-Fontanne Theater's lower lounge, which was one of our rehearsal spaces, and Michael David of the Dodgers laid out a very clear plan. He spoke of what he felt about the show and how the reviews didn't reflect the quality of the performances or the work. He said he knew audiences were telling us the truth. He explained how we were going to advertise to get our message to public. How the ad agency would find those reviews that reflected what the show was really about." Yeston went on to say that, "Yeah, I made a speech in which I expressed from the bottom of my heart the reasons that I write for the musical theater. It was a heartfelt sentimental message to them, many of whom have become my good friends. It was a wonderful moment for all of us to get back to our roots as to why we do this in the first place. For a moment, we got away from all of the false elements of the marketplace: the reviews, Tony competition, all of the things that are secondary to the real reason they as artists and I as composer/lyricist choose to do what we do."〔http://www.totaltheater.com/?q=node/540〕 It ran 804 performances but closed at a loss,〔Suskin, Steven, Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers, p.372. ISBN 978-0195314076〕 despite winning five Tony Awards (including Best Musical), the advocacy of Rosie O'Donnell,〔Stein, Tobie S. and Bathurst, Jessica.("Arranging Interviews" ) ''Performing Arts Management'', Allworth Communications, Inc., 2008, ISBN 1-58115-650-2, p. 320〕 and the release of James Cameron's film ''Titanic'' in December 1997.〔("'Titanic' Grosses for 1998" ) broadwayworld.com〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Titanic (musical)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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